DeMontis commits to Yale

As college sports have become a more lucrative and legitimate enterprise, athletic recruiting has exploded. The recruiting process often starts in students’ sophomore years or even earlier. In major sports, like football, some recruits will commit to schools as much as two years in advance.

But Yale has separated itself from this sort of recruiting–until now, that is, as the men’s ice hockey team secured a commitment from Canadian forward Robbie DeMontis in late October.

DeMontis is likely to begin his studies at Yale in the fall of 2016, which would make him a member of the class of 2020. To put that in perspective, he will be a freshman when the current freshman class enters its senior year.

DeMontis, a native of Kleinburg, Ontario, is currently playing for the Muskegon (Mich.) Lumberjacks, a junior hockey team in the United States Hockey League.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join Yale’s program and play for the Bulldogs,” DeMontis said. “I can’t wait to be able to learn from [the coaches] and become a better hockey player and person.”

DeMontis had received interest from ECAC foes Cornell, Princeton and Union, as well as from UMass Amherst, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, but he characterized Yale as his “dream school.”

Before playing for the Lumberjacks, DeMontis spent a year at a prep school in Ontario, where he served as captain and scored 122 points over 64 games.

DeMontis also credited last year’s success as proof that Yale is “an elite hockey program.”

The Bulldogs, fresh off a three-point weekend with a 6-2 victory over Princeton and a 3-3 tie against No. 5 Quinnipiac, next play on Saturday against Sacred Heart.